Originally published at: http://boingboing.net/2017/01/05/e9m-russian-loan-to-french-far.html
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Indeed, that’s not at all difficult to imagine… (NSFW link)
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Could you put a spoiler tag on that thing? It’s not exactly SFW.
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What qualifies as safe for work, these days? Certainly not the President-Elect’s twitter account, or the Presidential debates, for example…
One would imagine that actual Nazis and 4chan would not be considered safe for work, but apparently that is not the case.
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It is worth noting that the other candidate to the right, the slightly more respectable François Fillon, also seems to be rather friendly to Russia, and the left is split between three candidates meaning that it is fairly likely to be Fillon vs Le Pen in the final round. Russia just showed they prefer Fillon.
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Done, sort of. Sorry about that.
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Thanks much!
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We’ve seen for decades how destructive it can be when corporations buy politicians. Today it’s becoming more and more a question of foreign nations buying our politicians. Citizens United makes laundering the money a breeze!
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Possibly.
Considering the cognitive dissonance inherent in these relationships, it could be that Putin is counting on a backlash against the move to increase nationalist support for Le Pen.
Like the GOP with their new-found admiration for Assange, Le Pen (and Trump, etc.) might be missing the long-term goal of their “friend” to destabilize existing power structure. Not in a clear-cut “burn it all down” black-flag operation, but a careful series of events meant to undermine public trust in various parts of government.
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Well said. In the end it doesn’t matter to Putin who wins, as long as confidence in the institutions of liberal democracy in the West is undermined. That’s where he’s investing his nation-state’s money and resources. If a fellow right-wing populist happens to win in the process, it’s a bonus for him (especially if said right-wing populist is an easily flattered and manipulated narcissistic man-child). Eez beeznus.
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This is just a warning to other leaders they’ve loaned money to.
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Le Pen isn’t a long-shot candidate. As terrifying as it is she has a decent chance at the presidency in the upcoming election.
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Actually, the upcoming elections aren’t quite as clear cut as that.
There are a number of candidates presented as being on the left by the various media, but most are largely irrelevant this time (a couple of extreme left representatives who actually don’t want power, and the greens who are largely disqualified). And then there’s the media’s candidate (Macron) who is a banker, was part of Hollande’s government for a while and is anything but on the left (he spelled it out clearly). There’s one like that every other presidentials and they usually get 2-5% (but it might be important and I’ll come back to it).
What mostly remains are Melenchon and whoever wins the PS (so-called socialist party) primaries. The thing is, things have been carefully set up to give the current prime minister (Valls) to win said primaries. That’s where things get interesting: if he does win the primaries, he will first and foremost eat up votes from the right and center right rather than the left. Macron’s couple of percentage points will most likely come from the same pool.
In other words, all the prediction that the second round will be Fillon/Lepen hinge upon the idea of an unified right and a divided left when in reality, Fillon being a true right representative means he will lose the votes from more moderate people.
Not quite as clear cut as many present those elections to be. The situation is actually very close to brexit and the US presidentials: it probably isn’t a good idea to believe the forecast of the same people who have already been wrong many times already.
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It appears that the Russians have their fingers in everyone’s pies these days.
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More unsubstantiated hyperbole from Mr Doctorow.
Care to substantiate the “Le Pen is one little mustache short of a swastika” claim?
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I sure hope you’re right.
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I also find the tar & feather attitude towards LePen a bit odd. Not that I think FN would govern well but because when I do visit France I’ve made a point to talk to self identified FN voters none of whom took the slightest issue with my visible Jewishness.
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I heard Trump owes the Russians a LOT. I’m sure that’s just a coincidence. Especially with all this CIA/Russia/Trump stuff exploding over the next few days. Juuuuust a coincidence.
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The assumption is that she is just a polite front for shadowy male power brokers who have her father’s viewpoints and affiliations. (Because Euro-dudes are so infinitely clever, yes? Every one of them a fucking Talleyrand!)
It may be a valid assessment. However, it hinges on the assumption that a right wing female is inevitably a puppet of the ultra-rightist men in her orbit. I see nothing to support this conceit. I suspect she is good, bad or indifferent on her own account.
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First Czech-Russian Bank, not too sieg heil to fail?
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